Michelle Kwan graduated from Tufts University's Fletcher School with a master's degree in law and diplomacy a couple of weeks ago. Here is a nice story on Ms. Kwan in Globetrotting by Phil Hersh.
Kwan is moving to my neck of the woods in Washington D.C. Maybe our paths will cross! Yay. Anyway, she is going to be looking for a job.
Kwan said she debated between going on for a Ph.D. and finding a job. She had to shake thoughts that at this age -- 31 in July -- the path should be clear.
"When I walked across the stage (at the Fletcher graduation), it was absolutely surreal that I had gotten there but just a beginning step to where I want to be and a reminder of how far I still have to go,'' she said.
"It was also a bittersweet moment because you want to keep learning but at the same time, you want to gain experience. I'm going to D.C. to have experience in the place where all the decisions are made.''
I asked if she could ever see herself making those decisions as a politician some day, and she answered "yes'' without hesitation.
"So when is your first run for office?''
"Maybe that's what I'll do this summer,'' she added with a laugh.
Kwan has already been a bit involved in Washington.She was a Public Diplomacy Envoy under the Bush Adminstration and she was named an ambassador to the US-China women's leadership exchange by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese State Counselor Liu Yandong.
I find myself so impressed by the fact that Kwan went down this path. She could easily have attempted to just wring publicity out of her skating image for as long as that worked. But instead she went to school and got interested in what's going on in the world. What she's accomplished thus far is definitely impressive and I am interested to see what she does next.